jon and kate

Is it a bad sign when kids seem more excited about hanging out with a camera crew ... than with their own mother? That's the question on 'Kate Plus 8' (Wed., 9PM ET on TLC). For the first time in six months, the show's production crew is back, and the Gosselin kids seem really happy to seem them. So happy ... that it raises a few questions. Like, is Kate Gosselin paying enough attention to her own children?

The little Gosselins seem fantastically excited to have the film crew back; because the film crew actually spends a lot of time hanging out with them. Meanwhile, Kate has received criticism for spending time away from her family -- including a stint on 'Dancing With the Stars' that separated her from the kids. Ms. Gosselin has also been investigated by the state of Pennsylvania concerning possible child labor law violations -- which relate to having her children on TV all of the time.

Do you think Kate is being a good mom? Do you approve? Is she just doing the best that she can?

Listen, the television industry is tough. There are so many hours of airtime to fill, and not every family with more than six children is guaranteed to be super-cute. So you can imagine TLC's challenge trying to come up with new material. This is probably why they went back to one of their stand-out personalities, Kate Gosselin of 'Jon & Kate Plus 8' fame, to kick off a new series called 'Twist of Kate,' in which Gosselin will interact with a variety of American families and "see what she can do to help."

Well, the concept is surprising but it is probably a smart move for TLC to bring back one of their big ratings heavy hitters. The channel's obviously part of the "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" mentality. Or rather "If it broke, then scrape together the remaining pieces and put a handful of them back on TV with a slightly better haircut."

As you may have heard by now, Kate Gosselin is being sued by ex-husband Jon Gosselin for custody of their eight children. Jon claimed that Kate's presence on 'Dancing With the Stars' made her a neglectful mother, and he has called her an "absentee mom." But now, Kate is fighting back!

More trouble for Kate Gosselin! The reality TV star is having some problems with her dancing on 'Dancing With the Stars,' and now her appearance on that show may cause her to lose custody of her kids. 'Inside Edition' (weekdays, syndicated) has the story. Jon Gosselin is using his ex-wife's attempts to be a dancing queen against her. Jon Gosselin is saying that Kate Gosselin's presence on the show equals neglect for her children, and he is calling her an "absentee mom."

Kate Gosselin apparently has a little pent-up emotion stored inside her. Maybe it's a result of her time on 'Jon & Kate Plus 8,' or maybe not. But at any rate, she's been having trouble expressing emotion while performing on 'Dancing With the Stars' (Mon., 8PM ET on ABC). So Gosselin consulted with an acting coach in order to help let her inner feelings out.

It always amuses me when reality star and pop celebrities write and release books for their fans. They don't really strike me as big readers.

Kate Gosselin, the former star of 'Jon & Kate Plus 8' and tabloid magazines at a grocery store near you, has released her own book titled 'I Just Want You to Know.' Funny, I don't know anyone who wanted to know in the first place.

The book was published by Zondervan, a Christian book publisher, so the book not only features her accounts of what went on behind the scenes, but also things such as prayers taken from her own journal. Prayers, those would have come in handy when her show was on the air.

So after a few weeks of not many DVDs being released, this week has a little something for everyone: old dramas (Route 66), 90s sitcoms (Becker), cartoons (The Simpsons and Bugs Bunny), car lovers (Top Gear), and even a 25th anniversary set for Transformers.

However, if you feel the need to buy season 5 of Jon & Kate Plus 8 ... well, I don't know what to say.

For those who were unaware, Jon Gosselin, of Jon & Kate Plus 8 fame (or rather, infamy), had his New York City apartment ransacked during the holiday weekend. Evidence points to his new ex-girlfriend Hailey Glassman. Glassman is stating that Gosselin did it himself for publicity.

The first question is: why would Jon Gosselin need publicity? This isn't the Balloon Boy family. He's got a fleet of paparazzi following him and he gets plenty of publicity whether he wants it or not. I feel kind of bad for Gosselin since he's starting to have a string of high-profile sour relationships.

This whole situation smells of bitter ex-girlfriend. If Gosselin needed additional publicity, all he would need to do is have sex with one of the Kardashians or perhaps one of the female cast members of Jersey Shore and let the tape "accidentally" fall into the hands of the press.

It's that time of year when I ask you what your resolutions are. Not your general resolutions, I mean your TV-related ones.

Looking over last year's list, I actually did pretty well. I didn't watch American Idol, I gave Jimmy Fallon and Conan O'Brien a chance even though I wasn't sure if either of them would hold my interest (for the record, Fallon has and O'Brien hasn't), and I am trying to record more late night shows so I'm not up until 1:30 a.m. every single night. As for catching up on Fringe, well, that resolution I haven't kept.

So want to know who got the house and who got the kids? Here's an update for ya: WHO CARES?!? The couple have no mind-grating show, no equally mind-grating presence on so-called news shows and now no quadruply mind-grating marriage to tempt the press with at every corner. It's finally over ... right?

What is a best and worst list anyway? Is it truly a list of the best shows of the year and the worst shows of the year based on quality alone or do we have personal "favorites" in there too? Even if you watch 10 hours of TV a day there's no way that any TV critic can watch every single show, so there might be some gaps in what one person considers the "best and worst" and what another person has on their list.

Here are my picks.

The Best

1. Mad Men. There was no other drama this year that did so many things in so many ways. It's funny how a lot of people kept saying that "nothing ever happens" on this show. Actually, everything happened on this show, and it's all acted, written, and filmed in such a gorgeous way. This is a beautiful television series.